In this chapter, we will look at the largest group of Pronominal
Prefixes, the Ni-Group.  There are a total of 12 prefixes in this group.

   hni-     ::  we two (incl) do something to it
   shehni-  ::  we two (incl) do something to him
   akni-    ::  we two (excl) do something to it
   shakni-  ::  we two (excl) do something to him
   ökni-    ::  it does something to us both
   shökni-  ::  he does something to us both
   kni-     ::  they both (female) do something to it
   hni-     ::  they both (male) do something to it
   sni-     ::  you two do something to it
                  it does something to you both
   shesni-  ::  he does something to you both
                  you two do something to him
   kni-     ::  I do something to you both
                  we both do something to you
                  we both do something to you two
   skni-    ::  you both do something to me
                  you do something to us both
                  you two do something to us both

The forms that these prefixes take with the five Stem Classes we have
seen is shown in the table below.

              C         X         L         LX         A
   ---------------------------------------------------------
   hni-    | hni-      hni-      hní-      hní-      hny-
   shehni- | shehni-   shehni-   shehní-   shehní-   shehny-
   akni-   | akni-     akni-     akní-     akní-     akny-
   shakni- | shakni-   shakni-   shakní-   shakní-   shakny-
   ökni-   | ökni-     ökni-     ökní-     ökní-     ökny-
   shökni- | shökni-   shökni-   shökní-   shökní-   shökny-
   kni-    | kni-      kni-      kní-      kní-      kny-
   hni-    | hni-      hni-      hní-      hní-      hny-
   sni-    | sni-      sni-      sní-      sní-      sny-
   shesni- | shesni-   shesni-   shesní-   shesní-   shesny-
   kni-    | kni-      kni-      kní-      kní-      kny-
   skni-   | kni-      skni-     skní-     skní-     skny-

We can note the following patterns:

   * All the prefixes end in -ni- in the C-Stem and X-Stem forms.

   * All the prefixes end in -ní- in the L-Stem and LX-Stem forms.

   * All the prefixes end in -ny- in the A-stem forms.

In Mingo, it is important to be precise about who is involved in any
given action.  In an English sentence like, "We're going to a party
Friday night", the "we" might refer to the speaker and the person
they're talking to, or it might refer to the speaker and some other
person who's not even present.  In Mingo, these two different meanings
are distinguished through the use of different pronominal prefixes.

The prefixes hni- and shehni- both refer to the speaker and the hearer
being involved in the action together. That is, they include the hearer
in with the speaker in the action.  These prefixes, therefore, are
called the "inclusive" (incl) prefixes.

   hnyatënö'ös     ::  you and I are watching over it
   shehnyatënö'ös  ::  you and I are watching over him

Mingo also has prefixes which specifically exclude the hearer, such as
akni- and shakni-.  These are called "exclusive" (excl) prefixes.

   aknyatënö'ös    ::  s/he and I are watching over it
   shaknyatënö'ös  ::  s/he and I are watching over him

However, Mingo does not distinguish the inclusive and the exclusive
meanings of "we" when it occurs as the patient of an action.  This is
the case with the prefixes ökni- and shökni-.  With these prefixes, the
"us both" could refer to the speaker and the hearer together, or the the
speaker and someone else.

   öknyatënö'ös    ::  it's watching over us both
   shöknyatënö'ös  ::  he's watching over us both

The word "they" in English is also ambiguous.  It can refer to two or
more people, and those people can be either male or female.  In Mingo,
these possibilities are kept distinct.  When talking about two females
doing something, use the kni- prefix.  When it's two males you're
talking about, use the hni- prefix.  You also use the hni- prefix in
case of a mixed group, i.e. one male and one female.

   knyatënö'ös  ::  the two women are watching over it
   hnyatënö'ös  ::  the two men are watching over it

Despite the fact that Mingo is usually more precise than English in its
use of pronouns, there are cases where the Mingo pronominal prefixes are
ambiguous.  The prefixes sni- and shesni- both have two meanings.
These are sometimes called "vice-versa" prefixes, since the two meanings
they have are, in fact, opposites of one another.

   snyatënö'ös  ::  you're both watching over it
                    it's watching over you both

   shesnyatënö'ös  ::  you're both watching over him
                       he's watching over you both

Certain prefixes, such as kni- and skni-, can have three different
interpretations.

   knyatënö'ös  ::  I'm watching over you both
                    we're both watching over you
                    we're both watching over you both

   sknyatënö'ös  ::  you're watching over us both
                     you're both watching over me
                     you're both watching over us both